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Re-marking Pieces of Term Work

General

A student who believes that his or her written term work has been unfairly marked may ask the person who marked the work for re-evaluation. Students have up to one month from the date of return of an item of term work or from the date the mark was made available to inquire about the mark and file for an appeal. For example, should the work be returned or the mark be made available on March 3rd, the student has until April 3rd to inquire in writing and start the remarking process. Instructors must acknowledge receipt of a student request for remarking within 3-working days, and decisions should be provided in a timely fashion.

If an academic misconduct case is in progress for the piece of term work in question, a student may not appeal until the matter is resolved.

Details

Regrade requests for term work worth less than 20% of the final mark may be submitted to the person who marked the work for re-evaluation. The student must submit (1) the original piece of work and (2) a written explanation detailing why they believe the work was unfairly/incorrectly marked. If the student is not satisfied with this re-evaluation, he or she may appeal to the instructor in charge of the course if the work was not marked by the instructor (e.g., was marked by a TA). In these instances where the instructor was not the one who marked the work, the student must now submit to the instructor (1) the original piece of work, (2) the written reasons as to why he or she believes the work was unfairly/incorrectly marked, and (3) communications from the original marker as to why no change in mark was made. If a remarking is granted by an instructor, the student must accept the resulting mark as the new mark, whether it goes up or down or remains the same. Continuing with the remark or the appeal means the student accepts this condition. Instructors and TAs should ensure all communication with the student is in writing (e.g. follow-up email) and keep a copy for later reference.

Only term work worth at least 20% of the course mark may be appealed beyond the instructor. Such appeals must first follow the same guidelines as those mentioned directly above for work worth less than 20%. To escalate an appeal beyond the instructor, the student must submit to the department (1) all previous communications between the student, original marker, and the instructor (2) the detailed reason(s) documenting why the mark for the work was inappropriate and (3) the original piece of work. If the department believes that re-marking is justified, the department shall select an independent reader. The student must agree in writing to be bound by the results of the re-reading process or abandon the appeal. Again, the student must accept that the mark resulting from the appeal may be higher or lower or the same as the original mark.

Where possible, the independent reader should be given a clean, anonymous copy of the work. Without knowing the original assigned mark, the reader shall determine a mark for the work. The marking of the work should be considered within the context of the course of instruction for which it was submitted. If the new mark differs substantially from the original mark, the department shall determine a final mark taking into account both available marks.

The final level of appeal is to the Dean’s Office. Appeals must already have been considered at the two previous levels (Instructor followed by Department), with the decision reviewed by the head of the academic unit, before they will be considered by the Dean’s Office. Appeals must be submitted in writing, and include all previous correspondence, as soon as possible after the student receives the final response from the academic unit, but no later than one month after. Appeals to the Dean’s Office about the marking of term work will be reviewed to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed in earlier appeals, that the student has been treated fairly, and that the standards applied have been consistent with those applied to other students doing the assignment. Any mark resulting from such an appeal will become the new mark, whether it is higher or lower or the same as the previous one. This process applies only to term work; appeals for re-reads of final examinations are handled directly by the Office of the Registrar.